Kiichiro Higuchi

Kiichiro Higuchi (20 August 1888-11 October 1970) was a Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Biography
Kiichiro Higuchi was born in Minamiawaji City, Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan on 20 August 1888, and he was a graduate of the 21st class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and the 30th class of the Army Staff College. Higuchi served as a military attache to Poland and became fluent in Russian; he was sent to Manchuria with the Kwantung Army due to his language skills. He became a close confidant of Kanji Ishiwara and Korechika Anami. In 1937, he was sent to Nazi Germany as a member of a military delegation, and he was promoted to Major-General the next year. In 1938, as head of the Harbin Special Branch, he assisted several Jewish refugees in finding homes in Japanese lands, assisting them in fleeing Nazism in Europe. In 1942, Higuchi was promoted to Lieutenant-General and given command of the 5th Area Army in Sapporo, and he participated in the Battle of the Aleutians before leading the Northern District Army in the fortifaction of Shumshu in the northern Kurile Islands and the defense of Sakhalin from the Soviet Union. He died in 1970 at the age of 82.